Cubs Dropped from Foul Ball Lawsuit; MLB Remains

A judge has dropped the Chicago Cubs from a lawsuit by a fan who was struck by a foul at Wrigley Field, but litigation will continue against Major League Baseball.

Last fall, John “Jay” Loos filed a negligence lawsuit against the Cubs and MLB after he was struck by a foul ball during a game at Wrigley Field on August 29. Filed in Cook County court, the legal challenge contended that the Cubs did not have enough protective netting in place at the ballpark and that the foul ball caused injuries that resulted in Loos losing his sight in his left eye.

Both the Cubs and MLB petitioned to be dropped as defendants in the case. In a ruling issued this week, Cook County Judge John Callahan Jr. dismissed the Cubs on the basis that Loos and his legal team had not provided sufficient evidence to show recklessness on the part of the organization. The case is still set to move forward, however, with MLB as a defendant. More from The Chicago Tribune:

Major League Baseball remains a defendant in the lawsuit, which will go forward. And the attorney for John “Jay” Loos, the Schaumburg man who filed the negligence lawsuit last fall, will have another chance to make the case that the Cubs should be a defendant because the team “willfully and wantonly” failed to erect safety netting despite knowing of the injury risk to fans.

Lawsuits brought by injured fans against MLB rarely succeed. Last year a federal judge in California threw out a class-action lawsuit against the league filed by two fans who sought more protective netting at ballparks. The judge ruled they had failed to prove they and other fans faced a high enough risk of injury.

Loos’ attorney Colin Dunn said he thought this might be a good sign for his client.

“It means if we prove our facts, then we win at trial,” Dunn said.

The Cubs were among the teams that indicated last fall that they would install extended protective netting prior to the 2018 season. It has since been learned that all 30 MLB teams will have extended netting on Opening Day.

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About Zach Spedden

Zach Spedden is the managing editor of the August Publications sports sites. He graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in February 2014, and a Master of Arts in Emerging Media from the University of Loyola Maryland's in September 2015. Zach resides in Baltimore.

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